Duke experienced some close calls early in its ACC schedule, but the nation’s No. 2 team in the NET rankings has dominated opponents of late.
The No. 4 Blue Devils attempt to run their winning streak to nine games and remain unbeaten in conference play Saturday afternoon when they visit Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va.
Duke (19-1, 8-0 ACC) has not lost since blowing a 17-point lead in an 82-81 loss to Texas Tech on Dec. 20 at Madison Square Garden. The Blue Devils won their first four ACC games by a combined 28 points before dominating California, Stanford, Wake Forest and Louisville by a combined 97 points.
“I feel you get a chance to really learn about the identity of your team and who we can be,” coach Jon Scheyer said of Duke’s recent blowouts. “That doesn’t mean winning and losing. I think it just means understanding the process and understanding the areas you have to grow and get better.”
Duke has shot at least 50% in each of its last games and finished at 50.8% during Monday’s 83-52 home win over No. 20 Louisville. Cameron Boozer led the Blue Devils in scoring for the third straight game as part of a 19-point, 10-rebound, four-assist night.
Duke dominated the second half by a 45-24 margin when it shot 58.6% (17 of 29). In its past four second halves, the Blue Devils outscored opponents 172-119 while shooting 54.2% (58 of 107).
On Monday, Duke held prized Louisville freshman Mikel Brown to 1-of-13 shooting and the Cardinals to 29.6% shooting overall. The Blue Devils also outrebounded the Cardinals 47-26.
Virginia Tech (16-6, 5-4) opened league play with a 10-point triple-overtime win over Virginia on Dec. 31. The Hokies followed that by losing three of the next four, though the setbacks to Wake Forest, Stanford and SMU came by a combined five points.
Since those close losses, Virginia Tech has won three of four and bounced back from an 85-71 loss Jan. 24 at Louisville by earning a 71-65 home win over Georgia Tech on Tuesday. Despite this recent surge, the Hokies remain outside the Top 50 in the NET rankings at No. 54.
The Hokies trailed by nine less than two minutes into Tuesday’s contest before using a 15-1 run to get the lead for good, though they survived some shaky moments down the stretch. Virginia Tech held a 15-point lead with 4:26 left before giving up 11 straight points. Coach Mike Young’s squad hit 6 of 8 at the free-throw line in the final 40 seconds to clinch it.
“I’ve got the most poised, smart basketball team that I’ve had in a long, long time, and we are anything but poised and smart down the stretch,” Young said. “We’ll get better.”
Virginia Tech earned the win despite a quiet night from leading scorer Amani Hansberry, who got into foul trouble. Hansberry, who averages 14.8 points, was held to a season-low five points on 1-of-5 shooting.
Ben Hammond led the Hokies in scoring for the second time in three games by finishing with 20 and is shooting 51.4% (28 of 54) since entering the starting lineup on Jan. 14. That includes a 13-for-23 showing from 3-point range.
“He’s awesome,” Young said of Hammond, who averaged 5.6 points last season as a freshman. “He’s doing it every night.”
–Field Level Media
